This invention relates to an oxygen gas permselective membrane which can be effectively used in manufacturing an air electrode for a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell, a metal/air cell or an oxygen sensor, more specifically to an oxygen gas permselective membrane which permits a heavy-load discharge for a long period of time, even if it is in a thin form, and which is excellent in storage properties.
There have hitherto been used gas diffusion electrodes for air electrodes such as various fuel cells, air-metal cells typically including air/zinc cells, and Galvanic oxygen sensors. In the initial period, a thick porous electrode in which distributed pores have a uniform diameter has been used as the gas diffusion electrode. In recent years, however, there have often been used an electrode having a two-layer structure, which comprises a porous electrode body having an electrochemical reduction function for oxygen gas (a function for ionizing oxygen) and simultaneously having a function as a current collector and a thin water repellent layer deposited integrally on the gas-side surface of the electrode body.
In this case, the electrode body may be formed mainly by incorporating a conductive powder, such as an active carbon powder carrying a nickel tungstate having a low reduction overvoltage to oxygen gas; a tungsten carbide coated with palladium-cobalt; nickel; silver; platinum or palladium, into a porous metallic body, a porous carbon body or a non-woven carbon fabric material, by the use of a binder such as polytetrafluoroethylene.
Further, the aforementioned water repellent layer, which will be deposited integrally on the gas-side surface of the electrode body, is a porous thin membrane that comprises a fluorine-containing resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer, or ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, or a resin such as polypropylene, in a form of a porous material including, for instance, a sintered powder material having a particle size of from 0.2 to 40 .mu.m; a paper-like nonwoven fabric material prepared by heat treatment of fibers comprising the above resin; a similar woven fabric material; a powder material partially replaced the above resin by a fluorinated graphite; a film material prepared by rolling fine powder together with a pore-increasing agent or a lubricant oil, followed by heat treatment, or a film material prepared by rolling without being followed by heat treatment (Japanese Patent Publication No. 44978/1973).
In the air electrode having such a conventional structure as mentioned above, however, the water repellent layer deposited on the gas-side surface of the electrode body is impervious to a used electrolyte but is not impervious to air and water vapor in air.
For this reason, for example, water vapor in air may permeate the electrode body through the water repellent layer in order to dilute the electrolyte; the water in the electrode is otherwise given off through the water repellent layer in order to concentrate the electrolyte. As a result, the concentration of the electrolyte will fluctuate and it will thus be impossible to maintain a stable electric discharge for a long time.
In the case that carbon dioxide gas in air permeates the electrode body through the water repellent layer and is adsorbed by an active layer (a porous portion of the electrode body) therein, the electrochemical reducing function of the active layer to oxygen gas will be reduced at this position, exerting a bad influence upon a heavy-load discharge. Moreover, when an alkaline electrolyte is used, there will occur phenomena such as change in properties of the electrolyte, reduction in the concentration of the electrolyte and, when a used cathode is zinc, passivation of the zinc cathode. Furthermore, in such a case as mentioned above, a carbonate will be formed in the active layer to close some pores and to thereby decrease the region where an electrochemical reduction is carried out, which fact will lead to hindrance in the heavy-load discharge.
A cell having such a structure above will deteriorate in performance below a certain design standard, when stored for a long period of time or when used for a prolonged period.
In order to overcome such disadvantageous problems, there has been proposed a new-type cell in which a water repellent layer of an air electrode is provided, on the gas side (air side) thereof, with a layer comprising a water-absorbing agent such as calcium chloride or a carbon dioxide gas-absorbing agent such as a hydroxide of an alkaline earth metal (Japanese Patent Publication No. 8411/1973). This type of cell can prevent the above-mentioned disadvantageous problems to some extent, but when the absorbing agent has been saturated with water or carbon dioxide gas after a certain period of time, its function will be lost and its effect can be expected no more. After all, such a suggested cell cannot solve the aforementioned problems basically.
Further, it has been attempted to laminate integrally, on the above-mentioned water repellent layer, an oxygen permselective thin membrane such as a polysiloxane membrane (Japanese Patent Publication No. 26896/1973). However, no sufficiently effective oxygen gas permselective membranes have yet been developed.